Lisa Kinsella (CEIP Narciso Alonso Cortés) acogió la semana pasada a la profesora observadora Cristina de Vega (CEIP Clemente Fernández de la Devesa) y organizó numerosas actividades, tal y como nos cuenta Cristina:
Last Tuesday, I had my first shadowing in CEIP Narciso Alonso Cortés in Valladolid which is a British Council like mine so it is a great learning experience.
I went to Lisa's class who teaches 5th and 6th both Literacy and Art, basically like me that I teach those plus Social Studies in year 4, 5 and 6.
First thing that I realised is that the whole school is involved ina recycling projet for kids and adults to be aware of where to dispose garbage and become responsible citizens. Great idea!
The school day is divided in 5 sessions, 3 hour sessions before the break and then after the break one-hour session and one half hour session at the end of the day.
First session was literacy with year 5, it was a small group. Even though they were a bit sleepy, they were very involved in the class. They were working a Valentine's worksheet. I loved the fact that each student has its personal dictionary where they add all the new words they learn with the definition in English and the part of speech, sometimes at the end they add the translation into Spanish. After finishing the worksheet, Lisa asked students to draw a traffic light and colour with red, yellow or green according to the difficulties they had encountered. I found that a fantastic idea, easy to implement and so useful for both the teacher and students to reflect over they work. Then, Lisa had prepared a Valentine's crossword, she gave the accross definitions to half of the class and the down ones to the other half. Then in groups they solve it. Once it happens, she pairs one accross with one down, they sit back to back and have to guess the words. I use this type of activity too, I love seeing it a bit different so I can apply it in my class.
In the second session, we had another group of year 5. They went over some exams that they had peer corrected and then the teacher would oversee them. This class is interesting since there is an Australian student. This class was very participative and were involved in a lot of cultural references for example about tart/pie/cake. They also did the crossword activity and use the traffic light.
In the third session, we had year 6 literacy, normally she has a "desdoble" but the other teacher had to cover for someone who was sick. They went over some vocab to add to their personal dictionary. They finsihed Valentines and they a quick topic which was Carnival all over the world with lots of cultural references, students were divided in groups and each one to read one part to share with their teammates later. Lisa used the timer bomb to control the time.
After break, year 6 had Art, they were creating a horse mask, they were amazing at saving materials and using them up to the limit. Love that Lisa plays music in the background like I do, very relaxing and calm atmosphere.
Last session only lasts 30 min it was a short session to revise the glossaey and the personal dictionary.
I have to say two things that I love: Lisa gives clear, simple instructions which are necessary for students to understand. And then when they leave her class, students line up and they need to "show and exit ticket" which in this case was saying a word they had learnt.
I loved spending the day there and learning so much, love the talk we had afterwards too. Looking forward for the next time.
Thanks Lisa!!!!
